Pulse Ox - 100%

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

hissycat — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:24:45 GMT

Think I remember being told that a 100% reading wasn't desirable because it meant something was up with CO2 levels... however that is just something kicking around in the back of my head so I will try and look into it! I guess the normal rules don't always apply under anaesthesia though.. interesting question.

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Felicity Caldwell — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:57:30 GMT

I'd be interested in knowing what your HVN's reason were for her disagreement!

It isn't a problem - most patient's we have UGA have an SPO2 reading from 96-99%. Sometimes it will tick to 100%, sometimes it doesn't. It certainly is not a major issue - especially for a patient under anaesthesia. As some off the other collegues have put on here - it would be concerning if a concious patient had that reading for a long time i.e. hours and hours > it'd probably signify some sort of risk of oxygen toxicity. I can remember our anaesthetist telling us once that 100% wasn't a true reading for an anaesthetised patient - I will have to ask her. But, I wounld def. not be concerned with those SPO2 readings xxx

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Karen Skelton — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:00:46 GMT

Our handheld pulse ox starts to beep if it has been at 100% saturation for more than 1 minute. It doesnt beep at 95%-99%. The manual doesnt state why it beeps. The vet thinks its due to oxygen being on too high a flow rate. It happens mostly with cats, which are on a t-piecs at 1.5-2L!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Stella Skelton RVN — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:24:17 GMT

[quote user="*Steph *"]

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

You have a much more hi-tech, accurate, reliable and dependable piece of equipment that can detect small changes in anaesthesia very quickly, respond promptly and appropriately and that doesn't need mains power or batteries.

What is it? A nurse with a stethoscope (preferably oesophageal!)

Much better than a pulse ox!!!

[/quote]

haha - I like that!

[/quote]

Totally...thanks for that...i was thinking the same thing about my practice...he he xxx

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Steph Phillips — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:20:56 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"]

What is it? A nurse with a stethoscope (preferably oesophageal!)

Much better than a pulse ox!!!

[/quote]

haha - I like that!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:06:25 GMT

[quote user="Phrin SVN"]The only GA monitoring equip we have at work is a pulse ox. [/quote]

Can I be pedantic?

What is it? A nurse with a stethoscope (preferably oesophageal!)

Much better than a pulse ox!!!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Stella Skelton RVN — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 21:02:53 GMT

I didn't think it was a problem...i thought this was good...we have had 100% but mostly it sticks to about 98-99%, sometimes 96-97%.

if you're uncertain remove, clean and reattach the probe.

bear in mind that a pulse ox can give a 'good' reading on a dead animal...

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:53:05 GMT

Just trying to be helpful...I think you're getting mixed up between the level of O2 in the inspired air and that in the blood.

[quote user="Kerry Haigh RVN A1 Cert SAN MBVNA"]Exposure to 60%+ saturation for more than 24-72 hours causes toxicity. Oxygen toxicity can cause damage to alveoli and may excacerbate underlying disease. Because we use methods such as 02 tents/ cages, Buster collar/ cling film, nasal catheters it is not commonly seen in practice.[/quote]

You're talking about O2 levels in inspired air - and yes, theoretically, O2 is toxic at high levels! Pretty rare in practice though.

The saturation level on a pulse ox relates to how much of the blood haemoglobin is bound to O2. If you look at an oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve, inspired O2 has to be very low before the saturation drops lower than about 95%.Thus even at normal air levels of 20%, our blood oxygen saturation should be 100%. Anything less would indicate a contact problem (likely) or a problem.

I'm not a big fan of pulse ox machines for so many reasons - but high on the list is the difficulty in interpreting the numbers. (That and the fact that the contacts drive me mad- nurses end up messing with them constantly!!)

Hope this helps!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Kerry Spain — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:43:45 GMT

Exposure to 60%+ saturation for more than 24-72 hours causes toxicity. Oxygen toxicity can cause damage to alveoli and may excacerbate underlying disease. Because we use methods such as 02 tents/ cages, Buster collar/ cling film, nasal catheters it is not commonly seen in practice.

I'd be happy at 100% saturation for any animal under anaesthesia as hopefully it's not going to last for 3 days!!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Carol Cottrell — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:17:01 GMT

The last anaesthetic CPD I did said you should expect 95 - 100%, start worrying or re-situate the clip if it is 95% or below

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

salliee5 — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:05:36 GMT

I cannot imagine why there would be a problem with 100%, surely that is within the normal limits. I'd ask your HN her reasons why, I'd certainly like to know if I am doing something wrong!!

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Saskia Quinn — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:21:19 GMT

we have a machine that measures heart, respiration, pulse ox and temperature.

I have found the majority of animals under ga are normally 96-99%, havent noticed any on 100% recently! Though most of them have been ill beforehand.

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:48:59 GMT

A normal healthy animal should always be at 100%.

Re: Pulse Ox - 100%

dinkyd — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:15:03 GMT

Did your HN give her reasons for disagreeing?

I cant see why it would be bad- certainly was never brought up while i was doing my recent cpd.